GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The A2 autoroute near Bellinzona was closed for several hours early Tuesday 15 May after 300,000 m3 of rock fell when a cliff collapsed near Preonzo, close to Bellinzona. Another 500,000m3 remains unstable, according to local authorities. The industrial zone was closed over the weekend as concerns about the rock grew, but the rock fall did not cause any damage, reports news agency ats.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 28-year-old British resident, driving south on the A2 autoroute in Molena, near Bellinzona, was clocked doing 219kph on the 120-limit road just after midnight Tuesday 10 April, say police in canton Ticino. He is being charged with a serious offense against the Swiss Traffic Rules Act. He was released after putting down a deposit against a potential fine and he is now banned from driving on Swiss roads.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The three anarchists, or “ecoterrorists”, who were caught just 3 km short of their bombing target, a new IBM nano research centre near Zurich, were handed the maximum sentences Friday by the high court in Bellinzona, Ticino. Two Italians in their 30s and a 26-year-old Swiss man were sentenced to more than three-and-a-half years each, although the time they have spent in preventive custody since April 2010 can be counted as part of their time.
Canton Zurich is responsible for overseeing their prison time.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The prosecutor in the case against two Italians and one Swiss from Ticino who are accusing of plotting to bomb an IBM nanotechnology research centre near Zurich has called for the trio to be given firm rather than suspended prison sentences, given that two of them have previous convictions linked to anarchy. They face at least three years in prison and fines of CHF15,000 each if convicted, reports ATS/Le Temps.
The court’s verdict is expected Friday 22 July.
The three have been under arrest since April 2010. Expert witnesses have testified this week that the explosive device the three had on them at the time of their arrest would likely have caused a rapidly spreading fire and death if it had been used.
The “eco-terrorists” as they are widely referred to, have refused to speak during their trial. They have admitted they belong to an anarchists’ movement. A small group of about 50 supporters has picketed outside the courthouse in Bellinzona, with placards calling for them to be freed and for IBM to be shut down and nano-technology to be eliminated.
Holenweger case tests tougher anti-corruption laws in country already considered one of world’s best at fighting bribery
Ed. note: AP (here, picked up by Business Week) late Saturday published a second, lengthy article about the implications of the case, which provides a balanced picture
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The case against former high-flying Tempus Bank executive Oskar Holenweger in Bellinzona, Ticino, in Switzerland’s Criminal High Court, ended Friday 15 April, with the judge’s decision expected 21 April.
The charges of setting up funds for French company Alstom to bribe foreign officials, against the friend of right-wing political leader Christoph Blocher, drew less international media attention Friday than did Switzerland’s reputation, based on an incorrect report that until 10 years ago Switzerland had no law against bribery.
Source: 2010 Transparency International report on perceived transparency and accountability for corruption (click on image to view larger)
Headlines of “Switzerland stakes its reputation on …” imply that the country has until recently done little to fight bribery, when the opposite is true: Switzerland in 2006 was named the top country in the world for fighting bribery, in a ranking by Transparency International.
The group’s 2009 report on progress (pdf) made by the 38 countries signatory to the 1997 OECD Convention on Bribery shows that only four actively enforce it, one of which is Switzerland.
And in its 2010 report on international perceptions of transparency and accountability, Switzerland and Australia shared 8th place with notes of 8.7 out of a possible 10, although Switzerland’s score slipped from 9 the previous year.
Media reports say, wrongly, that bribery was legal in Switzerland until 10 years ago
The implication that Switzerland is weak in this area is unfortunately based on a misunderstanding, reported by Associated Press (AP) and widely disseminated via the Internet by AP’s largely North American member newspapers, including Yahoo News.
Even Maclean‘s, the respected Canadian news magazine, picked up the AP sentence: “Prosecutors hope the high profile trial of a Zurich private banker that ended Friday will send a message to Europe and beyond: Switzerland — where bribery was legal until a decade ago — is getting tough on corruption.”
Forbes was one of the rare AP clients to run a shorter version of the AP story, with the editors opting to leave out the misleading sentence, although it, too, picked up the “Swiss reputation at issue” headline.
Bribery was not legal in Switzerland: what changed in 2000, when the OECD’s 1997 Convention on Combating Bribery entered into force in Switzerland was the first of three key stages to tighten legislation.
The crime, previously punishable by fines, became a criminal level offense, punishable by time in prison as well as a fine. The difference is comparable to that in Switzerland between tax avoidance, a non-criminal offense subject to fines, and criminal tax evasion, with the risk of prison.
Responsibility for complex corruption cases involving bribery of foreign officials was shifted from cantonal governments to the federal government.
Significantly, before 2000, a bribery case would generally go before the courts only if a victim filed charges; as a criminal offense, police and other authorities have for the past decade been required to pursue suspected criminals and press charges.
In a second stage, companies became criminally liable in 2003, not just individuals.
A third stage involved tightening accounting requirements for greater transparency.
Switzerland has been slowly but steadily building up its tool kit against corruption since 2006, based in part on recommendations from the OECD and Transparency International.
International sports, football
Anfield, Liverpool (GenevaLunch) - Liverpool may not win any titles this season but they might well have played a role in denying one to Manchester United. They deservedly beat their archrivals 3-1, with a hat-trick by Dirk Kuyt, 6 March. Man United fielded a side weakened in defense because of the absence of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, but they were comprehensively outplayed in all departments.
Arsenal could only draw 0-0 against Sunderland but are just three points behind United in the Premier League and still have a game in hand. Man City stay third after a 1-0 win over Wigan.
Tottenham travelled to Wolverhampton for the best game of the weekend: a thrilling 3-3 draw.
In the Spanish La Liga Barcelona and Real Madrid both won. Inter Milan beat Genoa 5-2 and AC Milan beat Juventus in Series A. In the Swiss Super League Basel are still on top after a 3-1 win over Zurich. Neuchatel lost 1-2 to Bellinzona while Thun-Luzern ended 3-3.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
Be sure to buy a ticket before getting on a Swiss train
Bern and Bellinzona, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Train passengers without tickets or sitting in first class when they have only second class tickets will be treated alike by Switzerland’s CFF rail company, following a decision by a Swiss court: subject to CHF80 fines plus the missing fare or the difference between classes. Travelers should be aware that the fines are collected on the spot and that tickets must be purchased before getting on a train.
The Swiss administrative high court ruled Wednesday 23 December in favour of the CFF rail company, which had appealed against a decision of the Swiss Transport Office.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss federal council has agreed to hold back on the destruction of documents related to the St. Gallen family Tinner, allegedly implicated in an international nuclear proliferation network. In an agreement with the Control Commission Delegation (CD), the Swiss parliament’s investigative branch for national security issues, Justice minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, agreed to allow certain of the documents to be made available to the judicial investigation and for the Tinner family defense attorneys.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Some CHF8 million in Swiss bank accounts must be released to the family of former Congo (Zaire) leader Mobutu Sese Seko, the Swiss penal court in Bellinzona, Ticino has ruled. The accounts were ordered to be frozen by the Swiss government and on request from the new government of the DR Congo after Mobutu’s death in 1997, the only money from illegal sources that could be traced. Mobutu, who ruled as a dictator for 32 years, was famous for his expensive lifestyle, which contrasted sharply with the extreme poverty of his country.
Micheline Calmy-Rey, who was then president of Switzerland, met with DR Congo leader Joseph Kabila in July 2007 and asked him to apply for the return of the money before the statute of limitations ran out, but Kabila was reported at the time to be disappointed at the size of the amount and action was not taken immediately.
Bellinzona, Ticino and Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss Federal Council (cabinet) and the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona are in a curious standoff over the Tinner affair, in which a Swiss father and his two sons were involved with an international ring that was sharing plans for making nuclear weapons.
The cabinet says it will destroy some of the files linked to the Tinner affair, while the court says it cannot do so. The cabinet argues, with backing from the Atomic Energy Commission, that some of the files, which detail how to make nuclear weapons, are so sensitive they must be destroyed.
Bellinzona, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Criminal Court, based in Bellinzona, handed down a surprise verdict Wednesday by acquitting seven people accused of belonging to criminal organizations and money-laundering linked to trafficking in contraband cigarettes. It gave suspended sentences to two others but only for aiding a criminal organization. The case brought by the Swiss attorney general had argued that the nine people, from Italy, France, Ticino and Jura, organized the Swiss part of a contraband network that involved the Italian Mafia, among other groups, but the federal court refused to accept most of the arguments.
